Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?

Don saw a startling headline a couple days ago: "Burrito Now, Pay Later: DoorDash-Klarna Deal Feeds U.S. Debt Addiction."

In a nutshell, the food delivery service DoorDash, having teamed up with the online financial server Klarna, will "let cash-strapped consumers pay for restaurant food, groceries and other delivery orders in four equal, interest-free installments, or "at a more convenient time, such as a date that aligns with their paycheck schedules."

Am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?

This article sparked a lively discussion in the Lewis household. Older Daughter used to drive for DoorDash to earn extra money (this was during the pandemic lockdowns), so she's more familiar with the service than we are. But the one thing we kept noticing during the time she was driving was how much the price of a meal got jacked up as a result of the service (delivery + tip).

In some ways, this highlights a conundrum I've never understood. The article refers to "cash-strapped consumers." But if you're strapped for cash, why are you ordering food? If you can't afford a takeout meal, why are you ordering one? What is the financial benefit of spreading payment over four installments? What am I missing?

Maybe part of this era of DoorDash and other food delivery options has to do with a general aversion to cooking. Scratch cooking appears to be a dying art, and people have this big space in their house or apartment devoted to food preparation that never sees anyone prepare any food. Instead, people will order food and then be unable to afford to pay for it all at once.

Lest I sound too much like a curmudgeon, I understand there are times someone may be too tired or too sick to cook, in which case food delivery is nice for an occasional treat. The fact that such options don't exist in our rural area doesn't reflect the immense popularity of these services. But ordering food all the time? Yikes.

"Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) arrangements have surged in recent years," notes the article. "However, what began as a reasonable accommodation for large purchases like appliances and furniture has now metastasized to a point where Americans can finance Friday-night-pizza impulse-buys."

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks this is a bad idea. The article notes, "For the financially disorganized or imminently insolvent, the interest-free option could prove to be a siren song that leaves their cash flow dashed against the metaphoric rocks of unexpectedly expensive burritos and Kung Pao chicken. ... Even for those who make timely payments, the interest-free option can have a destructive effect over time, by encouraging consumers to commit to spending more money than they would in the absence of the appealing, 'interest-free' enticement.

It continues: "The problem is these things start having a very pervasive and very negative influence on people who can't afford it,' Anish Nagpal, an University of Melbourne marketing professor who studies behavioral decision-making, told the Washington Post. "They just want something now, and they go into this spiral of debt and always trying to chase up and meet the payment requirement."

Don speculates that perhaps DoorDash – which boomed during the pandemic – might be experiencing hard times and looking for ways to boost their business. However this is pure speculation.

It strikes me that lessons in impulse control, scratch cooking, and money management would all be equally useful additions to our educational system.

Whatchamacallit Stirfry

Older Daughter has begun a new cooking campaign.

To recap, Older Daughter pays "rent" by cooking for us. She has become an impressive and creative cook and has introduced us to many new and wonderful dishes. She's also great at improvising, and she's been doing this a lot lately. How?

Well, with our spending lockdown after my job loss, she is determined to use up a lot of random things we have in the chest freezer. She is almost to the point of closing her eyes, extracting something random from the freezer, and creating a meal around it.

Today she pulled out a pound of ground turkey. From this, she created what we called Whatchamacallit Stirfry, which consisted of:

• Veggies we already had in the fridge, including sweet peppers, carrots, cabbage

• A few random potstickers from the freezer

• Angel-hair pasta

• Ingredients we keep on hand such as sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger

It. Was. Fabulous.

Older Daughter's culinary creativity is saving us a fair bit of money as we adjust to this new lifestyle. It's also underscores what items we hope to grow in the garden this year to supply ingredients for her next Whatchamacallit Stirfry.

The importance of scratch cooking

A few years ago, I wrote a lengthy article for Backwoods Home Magazine on the subject of pantry independence, developing the idea that a deep pantry is an excellent tool to have – not just for rural dwellers, but for anyone.

A deep pantry can mitigate, to some degree, the rising costs of food. It also permits a measure of independence for everything from weather disruptions to job losses. "For some people," I wrote, "a 'pantry' is little more than a dedicated kitchen cabinet where boxed macaroni-and-cheese is kept next to a few cans of tuna. For others, a pantry is a vast storage room capable of holding a year or more of food. For most of us, the reality falls somewhere in the middle."

The article was lengthy and went into great detail about how we built our deep larder, what we store, the importance of preserved foods (canned, dehydrated, fermented), bulk storage, organizational tips, etc. Keep all this in mind for a moment.

With 2025 now upon us, I'm seeing a variety of New Year's resolution-type articles on becoming more frugal and/or saving money. This has always been a subject near and dear to my heart, so I read such articles with interest.

One popular resolution involves a promise to cut back on food deliveries, take-out food, restaurant meals, and other conveniences.

We've spent the last few decades living so far away from these options that we literally don't consider them an option at all. Once in a while Don and I will have lunch in a local eatery in town, and it's a lovely (if pricey) treat. But daily or weekly? Who can afford that?

One of the reasons these food options are popular with so many people is scratch cooking is becoming, apparently, a lost art. Partly this is due to any domestic chore being denigrated as lowly, and partly it's due to a lack of time for busy parents.

But scratch cooking is a supremely important skill, even for those of us who are not enthusiastic cooks (guilty!). But it behooves anyone trying to ramp up their frugality to learn the basics.

When the girls were younger, I developed a repertoire of recipes that we all enjoyed, and cycled through them regularly. This meant it was easy to keep the required ingredients on hand. When the girls left home and it was just Don and me, we fell back upon easy one- or two-person cooking (Don loves sandwiches, so that is usually his go-to meal; I would often just make myself a stir-fry).

After Older Daughter took over the woodcraft business, she also took over the cooking, since she learned she rather enjoys it. It's turned into a wonderful partnership. I'm not an enthusiastic cook, but I don't mind cleaning up; she doesn't like cleaning up, but she's a remarkable cook. Win-win.

This circles back to the idea of a deep pantry. In the article, I wrote the following:

"You might have noticed a recurring theme in this article, as well as any other article addressing the issue of food storage and pantry independence: they all focus on cooking meals from scratch.

"Pantry independence won't happen if your normal eating habits include endless pre-packaged convenience foods or deli take-outs. The whole goal of a deep pantry is to provide for your own needs for a period of time.

"So I'm going to say the quiet part out loud: Please, please – learn to cook from scratch. It's one of the best long-term frugal strategies you can master.

"I'm not an enthusiastic cook. Frankly, it bores me. But a frugal lifestyle demanded I learn the basics, and over the years I've built a repertoire of meals from pantry staples which the whole family enjoys. That should be your task too.

"Not only will scratch cooking allow you to create endless meals from the building blocks of staples, but quite frankly stocking with staples is far less expensive than any other options."

The point I made – that scratch cooking is one of the best long-term frugal strategies you can master – is a universal truth. I argue that most of what should be in a pantry is ingredients. Regardless of how you feel about cooking, it's still a skill worth mastering. I have no interest in capturing the breadth and talent level Older Daughter has acquired for scratch cooking, but neither will we be dependent on pre-made meals in her absence.

So here's my next question: For those unfamiliar with (or intimidated by) scratch cooking, what advice can you offer? (I'll start the list with one: Avoid any cookbooks by Martha Stewart. While I admire her dedication to perfection, I don't have the patience to spend three days preparing a desert. See this post.) Another piece of advice: A staggering number of kitchen implements and tools can be obtained at thrift stores.

Ready, aim, cook!

To squash or not to squash

I don't care for squash. It wasn't something I grew up eating, so I never developed a taste for it. Pumpkin, hubbard, acorn, butternut ... any and all of it is just plain yucky to me. I find the consistency slimy and the taste just awful.

Pumpkin is among the worst, flavor-wise. Ironically I love growing pumpkins simply because they're so beautiful. However unless I'm growing them for chicken feed, I've stopped wasting the garden space. Even sweetened versions such as pumpkin pie doesn't do it for me.

The only squash I like is spaghetti squash, in large part because the taste is neutral and the texture isn't slimy. Older Daughter has been making some wonderful spaghetti squash meals, and it's something I intend to grow in the garden this summer.

Even the humble zucchini is something I dislike. Older Daughter incorporates zucchini into meals quite often, and just as often I find myself picking it out because I simply can't palate it.

And then ... Older Daughter did something magical with zucchini. She grated it.

Yes, she started grating zucchini and adding the grated mix to rice dishes as a low-cal bulking agent. And oh my, in this form I absolutely love it.

Why? I don't know. The flavor is mild, and when it's grated up and mixed with rice, it doesn't have the sliminess (in my mind) of the sliced or diced stuff. In other words, it's absolutely illogical that I should like zucchini in one form but not another.

Food tastes are funny things, aren't they? But there you go.

Fortunately zucchini is famously productive as a garden plant, so we'll be able to have an abundant supply this summer from one plant.

I guess even this old dog can learn a new trick.

What are your best cheap meal ideas?

In response to my recent post "Shopping, ug!" on the subject of inflation and availability, one reader wrote: "Prices are going up and have gone up every week I’ve been shopping. My husband and I both work and we have not gotten pay increases. The grocery bill is really hurting our family right now. I’d love to get ideas on cheap meal ideas for a family."

Cheap meal ideas – I think that's an excellent topic to bring up.

Already a few readers have chimed in. One wrote: "I have 5 children & when they were all home I would make economical meals that stretched. I made some of my own sauces, etc. You can check out budget101 for ideas, along with searches for frugal recipes. I made up meal plans of what to do with hamburger, chicken, etc. I had summer meal plans & busy night ones. It worked for me."

Another reader: "Also check out Living on a Dime website; they have a huge amount of frugal tips and recipes (for free), along with their 'dining on a dime dime' cookbooks (e-book or hardback) available, excellent resource, all of their resources have helped me immensely."

Yet another reader wrote: "Snacking, aka, refrigerator grazing, can sabotage any budget. Plan snacks, not just meals. And find a way to incorporate them into your overall nutrition plan for your family. Don't make other snacking easily available. Something else that can sabotage the budget is everybody's other half. Spouses who shop together are more accountable to the process and each other. Family meetings. The whole family needs to get involved in the planning and budgeting process and the why's and how's. I was listening to a program about an Indian tribe once, and at tribal meetings, children also had a voice. Sometimes it's the voice of a child who helps guide the way."

I think frugality is on everyone's minds these days. Please comment and provide your favorite ideas for eating on the cheap. It will help all of us, not just this one reader.

Vanilla fish and other culinary disasters

Last night at our neighborhood potluck, our neighbor served fish he had raised and harvested himself. It was tender and flaky and delicious. And it reminded me of a story...

Back when Don and I were newlyweds, I decided to try a new seafood recipe. I don’t recall where I found it or what it consisted of, but the idea was I was supposed to start with fillets of fish, dredge them with plain yogurt, coat them with crumbs of some sort (cracker crumbs? cornmeal? – I forget) and bake the fillets.

The recipe looked delicious and I was anxious to impress my new husband with my (cough) culinary skills. So I got to work.

The only problem was, we didn’t have any plain yogurt on hand. But I had VANILLA yogurt. It’s white too, right? Just like plain yogurt? So I diligently dredged the fish in the yogurt, coated the pieces with crumbs, and baked it.

It looked fabulous. If I recall, I even garnished the dish with lemon and paprika.

My dear husband, who has suffered through my gastronomic shortcomings for the past 24 years, gamely worked his way through three or four bites... but then he had to admit defeat. The fish was simply inedible. I had to face facts: vanilla yogurt and fish don't do well together.

On the down side, that cooking mishap gave me something of a phobia about my kitchen skills. Cooking has never been my strength to begin with. Oh sure, I can DO it... I just don’t ENJOY it. Such is life.

On the plus side, we’ve gotten more mileage out of that silly faux pas than we ever had if the recipe had turned out well. We have laughed, joked, teased, kidded, poked fun, and otherwise remembered that horrific meal with fondness (especially since I never attempted to re-try it with plain yogurt).

The subject of my kitchen deficiencies came up today, and it got me thinking... We've ALL had some sort of culinary calamity in the kitchen. What are yours? Let’s shed the shame and share the stories so we can ALL get a laugh.

Ready… set… GO.

Hot soup for a cold day

Reader Holly sent an email mentioning she was making hot bean soup for a cold winter's day. She said her location which has two and a half feet of snow on the ground. The soup sounded so good I asked her to send the recipe, which she did. I don't have photos since I haven't (yet) made this myself, but it looks good enough to share. (Personally I wouldn't change a thing except to leave out celery, which I loathe.)
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This uses up all the left over handfuls of dried beans that I have at the end of the year. If you don’t have any dried beans, the grocery stores usually have a 10 bean bag for soup, etc.

1 bag of beans, 1 lb.
1 ham bone (ours was from our Christmas dinner)
4 carrots
4 parsnips
1 med onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
celery
parsley
salt & pepper to taste

Allow to simmer for approx. 2 hrs, then take out bone and remove meat. Cut into little pieces and add back into soup.

This soup freezes well but I prefer to pressure can for 1½ hrs at 10lb pressure.

With a biscuit or slice of bread, it’s a meal.

Recipes for the boxed stuff

In response to the post on Packing Christmas boxes, a reader said, "Please include recipes for those who only know how to make the box stuff. That is why I come here, to learn from the pros! Thanks!!!"

I thought this was an excellent idea. Most of the time, homemade versions of boxed stuff are easy and delicious, and this reader is correct -- a lot of people don't know how to make them.

So I thought we could all contribute our favorite homemade versions of "the boxed stuff" and help those who are just learning to cook.

Some time ago we had a lively discussion about the basics of kitchen equipment. For new cooks, this is a worthwhile post to review because so many people left such excellent comments.

Everyone has a favorite cookbook. While I have many cookbooks, my favorite is the classic Better Homes & Garden. It's battered and stained and torn from many years of faithful use.

Scratch cooking requires understanding basic weights and measures. Many cookbooks include a handy table, but cooks should be familiar with such things as how many teaspoons in a tablespoon (three), how many ounces in a cup (eight), how many cups in a pint (two), how many pints in a quart (two), etc. (Those outside the U.S. will appreciate the logic of the metric system rather than the English system we so stubbornly cling to.)

Cooking from scratch requires a few necessary tools of the trade, which can usually be picked up cheaply at thrift stores... such things as cookie sheets, muffin tins, measuring spoons, measuring cups, mixing bowls, kitchen timers, etc.

Scratch cooking also requires a decent supply of such necessary additives as baking powder, baking soda, spices, vinegar, vinegar, cooking oil, etc.

So let's review some of the boxed or canned foods listed on the sheet for the Christmas boxes. I'll start with macaroni and cheese -- here's the link to a blog post on how to make it.

Bread stuffing. There are some directions and illustrations in this blog post.

Chili. Everyone has a favorite recipe, it seems. This is the one Don cobbled together (to make a large quantity). Here's a post with a tutorial on how this chili was made.

I must admit the result was delicious.

Fruit cocktail. I have a blog post on making fruit salad, which is a zillion times better than canned fruit cocktail. However admittedly the fresh fruits will cost more than a can or two of fruit cocktail.

Homemade chicken strips. Here's a tutorial blog post.

Applesauce. I don't have a blog post, but it's pretty quick. Start with peeled and cored FIRM apples (avoid Red or Yellow Delicious, as they're too mushy):

Put the apple pieces in a pot, then add half as much water as apples (you can eyeball this, it's not an exact science).

Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and let simmer for about half an hour until the apples are very soft.

Then pour the apples and water into either a blender, or use a bowl and mixer (a blender will make the applesauce smoother, a mixer will make it chunkier -- your preference).

Some people like to add a bit of sugar, cinnamon, or even cinnamon red-hot candies -- but I just like it plain. (I also tend to can my applesauce, which is why this photo depicts the sauce in canning jars.) But fresh applesauce is easy to make and can be refrigerated.

Rice. No photos, sorry, but to cook basic white rice, use a 2:1 ratio of water:rice. For example if you want to cook two cups of rice, put two cups of water in a pot, let the water come to a boil, add one cup of white rice, turn the temp down to simmer, cover, and let cook. It takes about half an hour or so.

Muffins. I decided to make muffins for breakfast this morning and use the photos as a tutorial. (For our family, I always double the recipe.)

Mix all the dry ingredients together -- flour, sugar, baking powder.

The wet ingredients also should be mixed separately. Start with the eggs...

...and give them a quick scramble with a fork.

Then add the other two wet ingredients (oil and milk). The two bowls of ingredients are now ready to mix together.

With muffin batter, don't try to get the lumps out. Make sure everything is moistened, but it's not supposed to be smooth. (No idea why.)

Now mix in the blueberries (in this case, some of the ones I picked last summer).

You can either grease the muffin tin, or use paper cups.

Doubling the recipe gives me about 15 muffins on average.

Now here's a little trick for novice cooks: If you have vacant cups in a muffin tin, fill them about half-way with water. This keeps the tin from warping due to uneven heating. This means you have to be careful when putting the tin in the oven, and especially when taking the tin out of the oven, since the water will be boiling hot.

Depending on your oven temp (as well as how brown you like them), the muffins should be baked anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes.

Showing how to make muffins took a long time, but consider: homemade muffins only have six ingredients (seven, including the blueberries) and takes no time to whip together.

And the results are mouth-watering!

In future blog posts I'll do tutorials on making pie dough and pizza from scratch, but I figure this would be a good start for those who are learning scratch cooking.

What are the benefits of scratch cooking? Once you have your basic kitchen implements as well as ingredients such as baking powder, vanilla, spices, baking soda, etc., then staples such as flour, sugar, rice, beans, etc. can be bought MUCH more cheaply and last MUCH longer than the boxed counterparts. And there's no comparison when it comes to taste.

So here's an opportunity for all scratch cooks to post their "boxed stuff" recipes. If you have a blog tutorial, post the link as well. Let's spread the word about the benefits and ease of scratch cooking!

Addendum:

Debbie in Massachusetts sent in her recipe for pancakes.

Pancakes:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
3 tblsp melted butter
2 eggs
oil or butter for cooking
1 1/4 cups milk (I use powdered milk.)

Mix dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients. Cook as you would store-bought.

Pancake stretchers:
1). "Supper pancakes" -- add 1/2 cup cornmeal and a can of whole kernel or creamed corn to batter
2). 2 apples cut up & diced
3). Raisins, cinnamon & vanilla
4). A banana
5). Chocolate chips (w/ or w/o peanut butter)
6). Blueberry
7). Honey, cinnamon & nutmeg
8). Leftover oatmeal
9). Leftover cream of wheat

Debbie from MA